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Devious Journal Entry
1 min read
Day 3 and doing pretty well. I was up late hanging out at the 13th floor a collective studio space I share with a bunch of friends. A female friend was there and we had a really good talk. It wasn't anything special but enough to remind me of what can be fun about life and good report with people which I usually struggle with for most people but managed just fine with this girl. Today I am now back at the space with some other friends and discussing many options for artistic and creative endeavors which could eventually generate income for us. My mood is pretty even and not especially good or bad. The election was today and I voted but not especially attached to the outcome. A lot of people are very passionate about it but I don't give a meow.
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Some thoughts on this election.
1. Its all a big shitshow designed to make us feel like we have some say in the course of government when its big business and banks that really call the shots. Democrat and Republican are there to keep the people divided and both just 2 sides of the same coin
2. Ive never seen so much lies and propoganda used in an election. The internet killed jouralism and now theres no Editor there and no journalistic integrity and people can write whatever bs they want and folks will generally believe it if it agrees with their own preset paradigms
3. When me and many of my friends were trying to promote Bernie Sanders we'd talk about him and his great ideas and tried to promote all that. Since then with Hillary the supporters dont talk about any of her ideas, but how bad Trump is. The Trump supporters do the same and dont say anything about any of his great ideas (because he has none), they just talk about Hillary and her emails. Both sides are completely lacking in any agenda, or plan, just attacking the other side to make their case.
4. I go on Facebook for fun and all the political posts I either pick the laughing icon or say my standard comment "Oh well I better change my vote then thanks!"
4. I go on Facebook for fun and all the political posts I either pick the laughing icon or say my standard comment "Oh well I better change my vote then thanks!"
5. When the election is done I"ll be glad, but it wont be over and the loosing side is gonna complain and argue about it and just spend the next 4 years opposing everything the new administration does and try to not let them get anything done and blame them for all the woes of the nation.
All that being said, I should talk about feelings. Last night was up late and couldnt sleep. I had to take 2 sleeping pills to finally knock out in the AM. Im about to hit the gym but guess I need a vapor pen for tobacco and quit smoking cigs. Its a tough call but I need to be fee of that. Ugh they're expensive and Im poor but in the long run it'll save me money. Apart from that need some healthy food after the gym . Ok thats it.
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How to be Happy
3 min read
I once had a dream where I was flying around on a broomstick like Harry Potter. I was flying around these towers were cylindrical and made up of bricks. On each of these bricks on each of the six faces was written a single word. The bricks and the words on them combined to form sentences and altogether the towers formed a giant book that I had written about how to be sad. In this dream I was flying around these towers on a broomstick with a light saber and I was knocking them down. I think the point of the dream was that I felt like I was an expert on how to be sad. And in this dream I was knocking them down because I wanted to be happy. I feel like I spent a lot of my life being sad and I'd really like to write a New set of books about how to be happy. I feel like I've had some legitimate reasons to be sad like my girlfriend of seven years being murdered along with our two sons that were in her womb. Also current living situation my parents being dead, my computer died a couple weeks ago and I have no job now. My life hasn't been all bad, I've had lots of fun and good times I have no shortage of friends and people that love and admire me. True happiness has to come from within however I think the outside world and life circumstances can play heavily into that. In order to be happy I think I need to work on my inner self as well as my circumstances in life. For a long time now probably since my girlfriend died I feel like part of me has given up on life and I haven't made any efforts to really try to improve my life circumstances. I feel like a lot of my life has been since then trying to find distraction from myself. Today I very honestly wanted to kill myself. Its not the first time but I was really thinking about it. It was enough though to reach out to some friends. My friend Chris B said I should start a daily journal so here it is. This shall be the first of a series of journals that will help me document my progress and my work on myself. I'm not even sure where to begin because I'm not really sure what I want to do with my life. Part of it is just what sort of job do I wants because at the end of the day the kind of life I want involves paying bills. Not sure what to do next but this journal she'll be the first part. Wish me luck.
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OK I will share with you a secret.
I love to cook stuff from scratch but sometimes I take shortcuts. My favorite shortcut lately has been with cupcakes. The basic cake/cupcake recipe is pretty simple and requires nothing beyond basic skills at baking. So for that I just use a store bought mix. Shhh, don't tell ok? I figure the fun part is in adding unique flavors. I just get a white cake mix and add stuff. My first trip into the world of cupcakes was mint chocolate chip. For that I just took the basic cake mix and added mini chocolate chips
(larger ones are only really good for cookies as they will weigh down a cake batter and make it gooey and flat). mint extract, and green food coloring. Done! It was that easy! Though I also made a chocolate buttercream frosting and candied mint leaf to go on top but that's also pretty simple.
Heres the thing. So long as you don't change the wet/dry ratio it's easy to add flavors to a cupcake mix (or any baked mix for that matter). Things like peanut butter or pumpkin puree for example are easy to throw in because they're already about the same consistency. My next cupcakes were PB&J. For that I just added peanut butter to the mix (peanut butter has a strong flavor so it didn't take all that much). After the cupcakes were done I scooped out a spoonful in the middle of each one and put in some strawberry jelly. I also made a peanut butter cream frosting for the top and I added a bit of sea salt to offset the super sweet jelly and create a sweet/salty combo.
My most recent creation was pina colada cupcakes. For that I got a can of crushed pineapple in it's own juice, along with coconut milk, coconut extract, shaved coconut, and rum. The cake mix calls for a cup of water so I substituted that with the pineapple juice from the can along with a splash of rum. I also threw in a bunch of the crushed pineapple into the batter. Next I made the coconut buttercream frosting. For that I just replaced the cream in the buttercream with coconut milk.Since coconut has a bit of a subtle flavor I also added the extract and then put the shaved coconut on top. It's fun because I didnt have to follow a recipe and was able to improvise it all. Though I would not have been able to without the premade cake mixes. OK I've made quite a few cupcakes lately (mostly because I've been going to parties and my friends ask me to make them). Anyhow I think I'm done with cupcakes for now and ready to move on to something else.
the end
I love to cook stuff from scratch but sometimes I take shortcuts. My favorite shortcut lately has been with cupcakes. The basic cake/cupcake recipe is pretty simple and requires nothing beyond basic skills at baking. So for that I just use a store bought mix. Shhh, don't tell ok? I figure the fun part is in adding unique flavors. I just get a white cake mix and add stuff. My first trip into the world of cupcakes was mint chocolate chip. For that I just took the basic cake mix and added mini chocolate chips
(larger ones are only really good for cookies as they will weigh down a cake batter and make it gooey and flat). mint extract, and green food coloring. Done! It was that easy! Though I also made a chocolate buttercream frosting and candied mint leaf to go on top but that's also pretty simple.
Heres the thing. So long as you don't change the wet/dry ratio it's easy to add flavors to a cupcake mix (or any baked mix for that matter). Things like peanut butter or pumpkin puree for example are easy to throw in because they're already about the same consistency. My next cupcakes were PB&J. For that I just added peanut butter to the mix (peanut butter has a strong flavor so it didn't take all that much). After the cupcakes were done I scooped out a spoonful in the middle of each one and put in some strawberry jelly. I also made a peanut butter cream frosting for the top and I added a bit of sea salt to offset the super sweet jelly and create a sweet/salty combo.
My most recent creation was pina colada cupcakes. For that I got a can of crushed pineapple in it's own juice, along with coconut milk, coconut extract, shaved coconut, and rum. The cake mix calls for a cup of water so I substituted that with the pineapple juice from the can along with a splash of rum. I also threw in a bunch of the crushed pineapple into the batter. Next I made the coconut buttercream frosting. For that I just replaced the cream in the buttercream with coconut milk.Since coconut has a bit of a subtle flavor I also added the extract and then put the shaved coconut on top. It's fun because I didnt have to follow a recipe and was able to improvise it all. Though I would not have been able to without the premade cake mixes. OK I've made quite a few cupcakes lately (mostly because I've been going to parties and my friends ask me to make them). Anyhow I think I'm done with cupcakes for now and ready to move on to something else.
the end
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How to make a nice root beer float.
4 min read
Actually this is more like, how to make a root beer float for Chris. Im sure on this is its a matter of taste which will vary from person to person.
I like my root beer floats well blended. I don't like big huge chunks of ice cream suspended in foamy creamy root beer. I like it smooth like an ice cream shake. And I certainly don't like a large pile of foam at the top. I don't really like the foam and when I have it in my float, I just try to get it over with. Another quality of floats I dont like is ice. This happens when you have super cold ice cream suspended in room temperature root beer. The super cold ice cream causes the root beer to freeze and crystalize. This forms an icy shell around the ice cream almost like a creme brulee, but in a bad way. So no chunky monkey for me, I'll take it well blended as I said.
The first most important thing to start out with (as in any recipe) is with good ingredients. It has to be A&W root beer and there is no substitute. I realize that there may be some micro brew root beers that are better, but I grew up with A&W and to replace that is like asking me if I wanted a new mom. If you think you can get away with serving me Dad's or Mug root beer, you are sorely mistaken. And for ice cream well I think Hagen Daz or Dreyers will work and it has to be vanilla. Please dont try to deconstruct the float into something fancy with butternut or coffee ice cream, as that would just be weird!
Before you mix the A&W with the vanilla ice cream the temperature has to be moderated. The ice cream should be very soft and the root beer should be very cold. I like to leave the root beer in the fridge for about 6-12 hours with the lid off. This part is CRITICAL! To me you really need to get rid of some of the Carbon Dioxide gas in the root beer to make it less foamy. Even if you leave it in there for days there will still be bubbles. But if you leave it open for a few hours the CO2 will be sufficiently depleted to make the float just the way I like it. The vanilla ice cream you can leave out for a couple hours or just microwave on low for a bit. You dont want melted ice cream, just slightly colder than soft serve to me is the goal.
Now for construction. First, you need a nice tall glass. Its definitely better to use glass instead of a plastic container since the glass will hold on to the temperature better than plastic. Its also helpful to be able to see into the drink so you know how mixed it is. Once you have a nice glass its best to poor in the root beer first. I find that if you add the root beer second, then theres way more foam. Also there is a greater chance of ice crystals forming on the outside of the ice cream. So add the root beer and then add the ice cream. I like to use a fork or a slotted spoon for this. Its good to not only mix the float but to scoop out any of that foam Im so afraid of. Its really important to stir it up and mush up the ice cream. I like to have it mostly mixed but not all mixed. If theres still some chunks of ice cream floating around thats ok. In general though I like it about 80-90% mixed.
Now theres this critical window of opportunity to drink the concoction. If you wait too long the frozen parts of the float will just get all melty and it will be kinda flat. Its generally best to serve immediately. I keep the fork or slotted spoon nearby to scoop out any foamy bits that form on the top, as well as to mix up any bits that need mixing.
aaaaahhhhhhh,..... mmmmmmm
I love me a root beer float
enjoy!
I like my root beer floats well blended. I don't like big huge chunks of ice cream suspended in foamy creamy root beer. I like it smooth like an ice cream shake. And I certainly don't like a large pile of foam at the top. I don't really like the foam and when I have it in my float, I just try to get it over with. Another quality of floats I dont like is ice. This happens when you have super cold ice cream suspended in room temperature root beer. The super cold ice cream causes the root beer to freeze and crystalize. This forms an icy shell around the ice cream almost like a creme brulee, but in a bad way. So no chunky monkey for me, I'll take it well blended as I said.
The first most important thing to start out with (as in any recipe) is with good ingredients. It has to be A&W root beer and there is no substitute. I realize that there may be some micro brew root beers that are better, but I grew up with A&W and to replace that is like asking me if I wanted a new mom. If you think you can get away with serving me Dad's or Mug root beer, you are sorely mistaken. And for ice cream well I think Hagen Daz or Dreyers will work and it has to be vanilla. Please dont try to deconstruct the float into something fancy with butternut or coffee ice cream, as that would just be weird!
Before you mix the A&W with the vanilla ice cream the temperature has to be moderated. The ice cream should be very soft and the root beer should be very cold. I like to leave the root beer in the fridge for about 6-12 hours with the lid off. This part is CRITICAL! To me you really need to get rid of some of the Carbon Dioxide gas in the root beer to make it less foamy. Even if you leave it in there for days there will still be bubbles. But if you leave it open for a few hours the CO2 will be sufficiently depleted to make the float just the way I like it. The vanilla ice cream you can leave out for a couple hours or just microwave on low for a bit. You dont want melted ice cream, just slightly colder than soft serve to me is the goal.
Now for construction. First, you need a nice tall glass. Its definitely better to use glass instead of a plastic container since the glass will hold on to the temperature better than plastic. Its also helpful to be able to see into the drink so you know how mixed it is. Once you have a nice glass its best to poor in the root beer first. I find that if you add the root beer second, then theres way more foam. Also there is a greater chance of ice crystals forming on the outside of the ice cream. So add the root beer and then add the ice cream. I like to use a fork or a slotted spoon for this. Its good to not only mix the float but to scoop out any of that foam Im so afraid of. Its really important to stir it up and mush up the ice cream. I like to have it mostly mixed but not all mixed. If theres still some chunks of ice cream floating around thats ok. In general though I like it about 80-90% mixed.
Now theres this critical window of opportunity to drink the concoction. If you wait too long the frozen parts of the float will just get all melty and it will be kinda flat. Its generally best to serve immediately. I keep the fork or slotted spoon nearby to scoop out any foamy bits that form on the top, as well as to mix up any bits that need mixing.
aaaaahhhhhhh,..... mmmmmmm
I love me a root beer float
enjoy!
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